Monday 19th December 2016
Round 4 - The Result
ASM Clermont 38 - 19 ULSTER
ASM CLERMONT AUVERGNE 38 ULSTER 19
DicksonDigital.com
http://www.ulsterrugby.com/fixtures/155 ... FeZHvCLTIUUlster felt the full force of a Clermont Auvergne backlash this afternoon at the Stade Marcel-Michelin as the runaway pool leaders exacted revenge for last weekend's defeat in Belfast with a blistering five-try victory.
Les Kiss's side had already conceded four tries without response before a shift up the gears brought three scores in quick succession - two from Tommy Bowe and one from Franco van der Merwe - but, crucially, neither a losing nor a four-try bonus point as Clermont closed out the match with a penalty try.
At the end of Round Four Ulster now sit third in the pool on nine points, just behind Bordeaux-Begles thanks to an inferior points difference.
Only one change from the starting XV which defeated the French side last weekend saw van der Merwe return to the second row in place of Robbie Diack, unavailable through injury. Last week's try-scorer Charles Piutau started again at full-back, with Bowe and Louis Ludik on the wings and Luke Marshall partnering Stuart McCloskey in the centre.
Paddy Jackson and Ruan Pienaar continued in the half-back slots, while up front, the unchanged front row of Kyle McCall, Rory Best and Wiehahn Herbst packed down in front of van der Merwe and Pete Browne, with Iain Henderson, Chris Henry and Sean Reidy in the back row.
Clermont, meanwhile, made wholesale personnel changes with no fewer than five new faces coming into the starting lineup - full-back Isaiah Toeava, winger Noa Nakaitaci, prop Etienne Falgoux, lock Arthur Iturria and flanker Viktor Kolelishvili all getting the nod.
The match started in the same explosive fashion as it had last Saturday in Belfast. All Black Toeava made his presence felt within 60 seconds, ripping through a shell-shocked Ulster midfield and ghosting past a wrong-footed Bowe for the try beneath the posts, converted by Morgan Parra.
Ulster responded well with pressure deep in the French half, four minutes' possession only going wrong with a misplaced pass from Marshall which Ludik, arriving at pace, was unable to take without knocking on.
Then an Alexandre Lapandry turnover on half-way just before the end of the first quarter saw Clermont expose a gap on the Ulster right flank with McCall down on the turf receiving treatment, Abendanon ducking into the corner to grab his second score in as many games.
His third followed within five minutes, as the English exile picked off Camille Lopez's pinpoint crossfield kick unchallenged for an easy run to the line, before Parra added his third conversion.
A long-range penalty from the scrum-half could have topped up the Clermont tally to 24 on the half-hour, but the kick spun just wide for the solitary blot on an otherwise flawless first half from the Frenchmen. Ulster, to their credit, closed out the period chipping away at the Clermont 10-metre line, grinding out a lineout from which Browne did well to heave his way to the line before being held up.
Half-Time Score Clermont 21 Ulster 0
The second half could not have started any worse for the visitors, as Lopez timed his interception of Pienaar's pass from the lineout to perfection, and ran three-quarters of the field just out of the reach of the chasing Pienaar and Best for the killer bonus-point try.
The entry of Rodney Ah You, Kieran Treadwell and Darren Cave for Herbst, Browne and Marshall on 50 minutes went some way to reinvigorating Ulster, whose best attack of the game thus far saw Reidy just held up by Abendanon and Iturria as he slid towards the corner flag from the kick through.
The Number Eight's tail was up, however, and he pinched the ball at the very next Clermont scrum, feeding Pienaar whose looping pass fell to Bowe for the try in the corner, topped up by Jackson's conversion.
Ulster came again on the hour mark, pushing on from a rolling maul as Rob Herring replaced Best, van der Merwe eventually grounding the ball amid a mass of bodies, and Jackson again adding the extras.
Better still came five minutes later, McCloskey taking route one to the line with four Auvergnats swept aside in his wake before recent entrant Paul Marshall found Bowe at close range for the winger's second try of the afternoon.
Jackson's conversion attempt veered just wide to leave his side still nine points adrift, soon bumped back up to 12 courtesy of a Lopez penalty.
With at least a four-try bonus point now a realistic target for the Ulstermen, a fantastic central run from Ludik gained valuable ground in the first instance, but Clermont put up a hefty resistance and eventually cleared their lines, even notching a final score by way of a penalty try after Jackson had been binned for a deliberate knock-on as last man as the French closed in down the right wing.
Full-Time Score Clermont 38 Ulster 19
Clermont Team (15 - 9) Isaiah Toeava; Noa Nakaitaci, Remi Lamerat, Welsey Fofana, Nick Abendanon; Camille Lopez, Morgan Parra
(1 - Etienne Falgoux, Benjamin Kayser, Davit Zirakashvili, Arthur Iturria, Sebastien Vahaamahina, Viktor Kolelishvili, Alexandre Lapandry, Damien Chouly (c)
Replacements (16 - 23) John Ulugia, Thomas Domingo, Mickael Simutoga, Flip van der Merwe, Peceli Yato, Ludovic Radosavljevic, Pato Fernandez, Aurelien Rougerie
Ulster Team (15 - 9) Charles Piutau; Tommy Bowe, Luke Marshall, Stuart McCloskey, Louis Ludik; Paddy Jackson, Ruan Pienaar
(1 - Kyle McCall, Rory Best (c), WIehahn Herbst, Pete Browne, Franco van der Merwe, Iain Henderson, Chris Henry, Sean Reidy
Replacements (16 - 23) Rob Herring, Andy Warwick, Rodney Ah You, Kieran Treadwell, Clive Ross, Paul Marshall, Darren Cave, Jacob Stockdale
Clermont go eight points clear
http://www.planetrugby.com/news/clermon ... nts-clear/Clermont responded from last week's loss in Belfast to beat Ulster 38-19 in a bonus-point victory that moves them eight points clear in Pool 5.
After last weekend's defeat Clermont were looking for a quick response, and they certainly got one. Isaia Toeava broke through the Ulster defensive line in the first minute and finished with a beautiful sidestep past Tommy Bowe.
Their second try came just before the twenty minute mark. A mistake from Charles Piutau led to a Clermont turnover. Some quick hands from the French backline gave Nick Abendanon an easy finish in the corner.
The Clermont dominance continued with another Abendanon try. A wonderful cross-field kick from Camille Lopez picked out the former Bath man to extend Clermont's lead to 21 points.
The hosts continued their dominance going into the second-half. With Ulster still yet to register a score, Clermont secured their bonus point try through Lopez. The fly-half intercepted a loose pass to run the length of the field and dot down.
Finally, as the game approached the hour mark, Ulster opened their account for the evening. A nice move from the back line left Bowe free on the outside, and the Ireland international made no mistake from close range.
Ulster continued to press on and scored their second try shortly after. A strong driving maul was finished off by replacement second-row Franco van der Merwe. Paddy Jackson converted to reduce the deficit to 18 points.
The remarkable comeback continued with Ulster's third try in ten minutes. After a brilliant break from Stuart McCloskey the Clermont defence struggled to regain its structure, making it easy for Bowe to cross for his second of the game.
As Clermont looked to kill the Ulster momentum, the French side were awarded a penalty at the scrum. With regular kicker Morgan Parra off the field, it was Lopez who stepped up to slot the three points and extend Clermont's lead back to 12 points with ten minutes left.
But as Ulster searched for a way back into the game, Clermont punished them at the other end. A break from the hosts was halted illegally by Jackson. A yellow card followed for the Ulster fly-half and Clermont were awarded the penalty try, which sealed the win.
The scorers:
For Clermont:
Tries: Toeava, Abendanon 2, Lopez, Penalty Try
Cons: Parra 4, Lopez
Pen: Lopez
For Ulster:
Tries: Bowe 2, Van der Merwe
Cons: Jackson 2
Yellow Card: Jackson
Clermont: 15 Isaia Toeava, 14 Noa Nakaitaci, 13 Rémi Lamerat, 12 Wesley Fofana, 11 Nick Abendanon, 10 Camille Lopez, 9 Morgan Parra, 8 Damien Chouly (c), 7 Alexandre Lapandry, 6 Viktor Kolelishvili, 5 Sébastien Vahaamahina, 4 Arthur Iturria, 3 Davit Zirakashvili, 2 Benjamin Kayser, 1 Raphaël Chaume
Replacements: 16 John Ulugia, 17 Thomas Domingo, 18 Michael Simutoga, 19 Flip van der Merwe, 20 Peceli Yato, 21 Ludovic Radosavljevic, 22 Patricio Fernández, 23 Aurélien Rougerie
Ulster: 15 Charles Piutau, 14 Tommy Bowe, 13 Luke Marshall, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Louis Ludik, 10 Paddy Jackson, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Sean Reidy, 7 Chris Henry, 6 Iain Henderson, 5 Franco van der Merwe, 4 Peter Browne, 3 Wiehahn Herbst, 2 Rory Best (c), 1 Kyle McCall
Replacements: 16 Rob Herring, 17 Andy Warwick, 18 Rodney Ah You, 19 Kieran Treadwell, 20 Clive Ross, 21 Paul Marshall, 22 Darren Cave, 23 Jacob Stockdale
Referee: Marius Mitrea (Italy)
Assistant Referees: Matteo Liperini (Italy), Simone Boaretto (Italy)
TMO: Stefano Pennè (Italy)
Best disappointed after Clermont loss
http://www.planetrugby.com/news/best-di ... mont-loss/Ulster captain Rory Best could not hide his disappointment after his side’s 38-19 loss to Clermont at Stade Marcel Michelin on Sunday.
The Top 14 side raced into a 28-0 lead shortly after half-time thanks to a brace of tries from Nick Abendanon and further five-pointers by Isaiah Toeava and Camille Lopez.
But the Ulstermen fought back thanks to two tries from Tommy Bowe after Franco van der Merwe had also crossed the whitewash earlier in the half. A late penalty try sealed Clermont’s triumph, however, and Ulster had to head home to Belfast empty-handed.
The result means they are now eight points adrift of tabletoppers Clermont in Pool 5.
“The damage was done in the first half, we knew we had to come here and start well and keep the ball for long periods of time and frustrate them,” Best told RTE.
“We are massively disappointed to come away with nothing. We expected to win, we prepared well and we knew if we did the things we talked about all week, we had a good chance. But we didn’t do that at the start and it’s cost us a losing bonus point which we put ourselves in a great position to get. We conceded turnovers and weren’t good enough at the breakdown, we knocked on and gave silly penalties away and when you give a top side like this access into the game, they are going to score tries.
“We’ll have a look at this, we go back into the PRO12 next week but we will be looking to finish strong. It’s out of our hands a little bit but if we finish strong we will have a good chance of qualifying. But we’re disappointed with the first 45 minutes of that game.”
Ulster's European hopes hanging by a thread after 38-19 defeat to French giants Clermont Auvergne
Spirited comeback wasn't enough to get Ulster anything from the game
Clermont's French fly-half Camille Lopez runs with the ball to score a try against Ulster. AFP
http://www.belfastlive.co.uk/sport/rugb ... d-12339575Ulster's European hopes are hanging by a thread after a 38-19 defeat to French giants Clermont Auvergne at the Stade Marcel-Michelin.
An abject first half saw Ulster go in at the break 21-0 down having conceded three tries, and a further Camille Lopez try after the restart meant at one point Les Kiss' men were 28 points behind.
A spirited comeback wasn't enough to get Ulster anything from the game, and it means they need all ten points from their two remaining pool games to stand any chance of reaching the last eight.
In exactly the same fashion as last week, Clermont hit Ulster with their first attack, this time Isaia Toeava was the one who scored, breaking the line and stepping inside Tommy Bowe to go over.
What was different from last week's game was that Ulster were not as sharp as they were in Belfast as they passed up a couple of good opportunities to level a few minutes later.
Ulster's Ruan Pienaar feeds the ball into the scrum
And they were made to pay handsomely as Clermont flexed their muscles and scored two quick tries, both from Nick Abendanon, to give them some considerable breathing space.
The first was a simple case of numbers as the Clermont forwards battered their way through and then the ball was spun out the backs where Abendanon finished off a considerable overlap in the corner.
The second, however, was a piece of class from fly-half Lopez, who put in a pinpoint crossfield kick and Abendanon gladly caught it and went over for his second, and Clermont's third.
It was all falling apart for Ulster, whose confidence seemed to have evaporated, and but for Parra uncharacteristically missing a penalty on the half hour mark, they could have been further behind.
But arguably the biggest blow was just before the break as the visitors attacked the Clermont line, only to opt for a scrum from a penalty and concede a penalty themselves, ending any chance of a score.
Instead it was Clermont who picked up the next score, as Lopez intercepted a pass from Pienaar a minute after the restart and sprinted the length of the pitch for what was the bonus point try.
It looked like Ulster might never break their deadlock, especially when Sean Reidy was denied a try by the TMO as he was held up over the line, but suddenly the visitors sparked into life.
First came a score from Tommy Bowe, who had acres of space on the wing after Ulster turned the ball over at the back of a scrum, and the winger had the presence of mind to go closer to the posts for Jackson to convert.
Then on the hour mark Ulster remarkably went over again, a dominant driving maul powered its way over and taking the credit at the back was replacement hooker Rob Herring.
The crowd by this point had fallen silent and the next sound they made were howls of derision as Bowe went over for his second five minutes later, crashing over from close range after Stuart McCloskey took them close.
However, crucially, Jackson missed the conversion keeping the Ulstermen outside of losing bonus point range, although in the end it wasn't to prove costly.
With Morgan Parra having to leave the field injured it was down to Lopez to add a penalty to secure the win, before Paddy Jackson deliberately knocked the ball on at the line with two minutes to go, giving him a yellow card, Clermont a penalty try and Ulster nothing.
Three second-half tries not enough for Ulster as powerful Clermont ease home
Tommy Bowe scored twice as Ulster gave a spirited second-half display after trailing by 21-0 at the interval.
http://www.the42.ie/ulster-clermont-rep ... 1-Dec2016/
Ulster pay price for slow start as they leave Clermont empty-handed
Les Kiss’s men rallied in second half but it wasn’t enough for vital bonus point
http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/rugby/e ... -1.2910836
Best bemoans errors after Ulster fightback falls short
Ulster captain Rory Best was "massively disappointed" to leave the Stade Marcel Michelin empty-handed yesterday, as their second-half fightback fell short at Clermont Auvergne.
http://www.independent.ie/sport/rugby/c ... 03945.html
Ulster's Les Kiss left with one training session to regroup after French debacle
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/sport ... 04159.htmlUlster's Director of Rugby Les Kiss has said it is vital his side bounce back quickly from yesterday's Champions Cup defeat to Clermont, but has admitted his task has been made all the harder by a lack of preparation time ahead of Friday's visit from Connacht.
The Australian is dealing with a short five-day turnaround as he gets set to welcome the League champions to Kingspan Stadium two days before Christmas, and he will have just one training session with his side before then, thanks to an Ireland camp at Carton House today.
Nine of Ulster's squad have been called up by national head coach Joe Schmidt, leaving Ulster short of bodies as they ready themselves for the first of the traditional festive inter-pros.
"We only get one training session this week," Kiss revealed.
"There's a national camp on (today).
"That's been in the diary for a long time. We've known about it, we've had to plan around it.
"It's a big game against Connacht and we've got to make sure that we prepare as best we can.
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"It's obviously a Friday game after a Sunday and Connacht will be on a high.
"We've got to make sure we make the time that we do have matter.
"We're sorting through the bodies and we'll see how we stack up for that one session on Wednesday."
Kyle McCall, who picked up a hamstring injury, and the concussed Pete Browne both now look set to miss the Connacht game as Ulster count the cost of the 38-19 defeat in the Auvergne that leaves their European aspirations delicately balanced.
Their own five-try win against the same French opposition a week before had revitalised hopes of returning to the quarter-finals of Europe's elite competition for a first time since 2014, but they now know they will be relying on other results to go their way to make it through as one of three best runners-up when proceedings resume next month.
With return games against Bordeaux-Begles and Exeter to come, Kiss admitted picking up at least one point, either through one more second-half score or finishing the stronger when they reduced the deficit to nine points, could have been invaluable.
"It would have been massive," he noted. "At one point it could have even been two bonus points if we got one more score and then stayed within seven.
"It's disappointing to get nothing out of it, that's for sure."
While three second-half tries briefly reignited hope, Kiss was left to rue a particularly poor first half hour that saw Clermont race into a 21-0 lead.
Having taken the lead with less than a minute played through Isaia Toeava, a Nick Abendannon brace had put Franck Azema's men firmly in control.
Indeed, even if they let Ulster back in with a quarter of an hour spell severely lacking in focus, when they secured their own try-scoring bonus there still remained virtually an entire half to play.
"In the first 30 minutes we gave them seven or eight opportunities and when you do that to a team like Clermont, especially here, they can hurt you," Kiss bemoaned. "We didn't control the ball, keep our discipline or keep them out of our half.
"The pleasing part of the game was the second-half when we controlled things better. But again, then late in the game, we didn't look after the ball when we were going for the bonus-point score.
"Overall, the boys are pretty disappointed. Saying that, you take your hat off to Clermont and what they do. I'm not for one minute saying they weren't deserved winners.
"But to a man, we're pretty disappointed to tell you the truth."
The Ulster men fought but Clermont triumphed 38-19
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/sport ... 03403.html
Rory Best 'massively disappointed' to leave France with nothing
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/sport ... 03354.html
Ulster's Kiss disappointed by defeat to Clermont
http://www.bbc.com/sport/rugby-union/38359838
'Ulster have to stay positive' - Humphreys
Vid....... http://www.bbc.com/sport/rugby-union/38359662